“Distributed Energy Resources and the Grid of the Future”

Transcription

“Distributed Energy Resources
and the Grid of the Future”
Austin Electricity Conference
The University of Texas at Austin
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
Austin, Texas
April 21 & 22, 2016
“Distributed Energy Resources and
the Grid of the Future”
The 2016 Austin Electricity Conference will explore the idea of states
and nations as the electric industry is undergoing a transformation.
Distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar panels, electric cars,
and sophisticated energy management systems are changing the way
electricity is produced, delivered and consumed in the United States.
The trend is unmistakable, and is being pushed along by policy in places
like New York and California. At the same time, some of the impetus
for decentralization is coming from the ground up, from technological
advancements that have sharply reduced the cost of solar panels to
the proliferation of smart meters in homes and businesses. These
trends pose a series of difficult policy problems for the existing electric
grid. How can we design for the robust electric system of the future,
one that ensures technological innovation, resilience and diversity? Is
renewable generation best deployed on rooftops, or at utility scale?
How does a distribution grid designed to deliver energy in one direction,
from the central station to the customer, handle the delivery of energy
from distributed rooftop solar and electric car batteries back to the grid?
How should distributed generators be compensated for the power they
provide? How should they pay for access to the backup power on
the grid? Where, if anywhere, does planning occur in this system? Is
planning necessary? If so, who should do it? These are the themes we
will explore at the 2016 Austin Electricity Conference.
Thursday, April 21 Conference Schedule
*All events are in Classroom 105 unless otherwise noted
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Outside of Classroom 105
Registration and Breakfast
9:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Introduction and Conference Overview
David Spence, The University of Texas at Austin
9:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Panel 1: “Does Decentralization Make Sense?”
Moderator:
Dr. Ross Baldick, The University of Texas at Austin
Panelists:
Dan Seif, The Butler Firm, PLLC
Amy Stein, The University of Florida
Paul Wattles, Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Elizabeth Wilson, The University of Minnesota
*Coffee break
10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Classroom 103
Lunch with Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Michael Webber, The University of Texas at Austin
1:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Panel 2: “The Electricity Business Models of the
Future”
Moderator:
Dr. Varun Rai, The University of Texas at Austin
Panelists:
Inês Azevedo, Carnegie Mellon University
Sanya Carley, Indiana University
Dan Halperin, Pacific Gas and Electric
Michael Wara, Stanford University
*Coffee break
2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Will convene on the
Amphitheater Patio
Reception
Friday, April 22 Conference Schedule
*All events are in Classroom 105 unless otherwise noted
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Panel 3: “Who Designs the Grid of the Future?”
Moderator:
Dr. David Spence The University of Texas at Austin
Panelists:
Rao Konidena, MISO Energy
Jeremy Lin, PJM Interconnection
Hari Osofsky, University of Minnesota
Frank Wolak, Stanford University
*Coffee break
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Classroom 103
Lunch with Keynote Speaker
Zin Smati, LS Power and LifeEnergy
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Panel 4: “Evolution of the Grid in Latin America”
Moderator:
Dr. David Adelman, The University of Texas at Austin
Panelists:
Erika Benson, Benson International Group, LLC
José María Lujambio, Cacheaux, Cavazos &
Newton, L.L.P
Peter Nance, ICF Consulting
Alejandro Ibarra-Yúnez, Tecnológico de Monterrey
*Coffee break
2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Wrap Up Time
David Spence, The University of Texas at Austin
Keynote Speaker
Thursday, April 21,2016
12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Dr. Michael Webber
As Deputy Director of the Energy Institute, Co-Director of
the Clean Energy Incubator, Josey Centennial Fellow in
Energy Resources, and Associate Professor of Mechanical
Engineering, Dr. Michael E. Webber trains the next
generation of energy leaders at The University of Texas at
Austin through research and education at the convergence
of engineering, policy, and commercialization. He was
selected as a Fellow of ASME, has authored more than
200 publications, holds 4 patents, and serves on the
advisory board for Scientific American. His television
special Energy at the Movies is currently in national
syndication on PBS stations, and his massive open online
course (MOOC) “Energy 101” launched globally in September 2013 to over 44,000 students.
Webber holds a B.S. and B.A. from UT Austin, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering
from Stanford. He was honored as an American Fellow of the German Marshall Fund, an AT&T
Industrial Ecology Fellow, and on four separate occasions by the University of Texas at Austin
for exceptional teaching.
Keynote Speaker
Friday, April 22,2016
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Zin Smati
Senior Advisor, LS Power
Chairman & CEO, LifeEnergy
Mr. Smati is a senior executive and industry leader bringing
more than 30 years of North American and international
experience in the energy sector.
He is currently a Senior Advisor at LS Power (developer,
owner, operator and investor in power generation and
electric transmission infrastructure in the U.S.) and also
Chairman and CEO of LifeEnergy, a North American
Distributed Energy Company and an affiliate of LS Power
Private Equity fund.
Until December 31, 2015 and for 10 years, Mr. Smati was
President and CEO of GDF SUEZ Energy NA, a North American company and part of ENGIE,
one of the world’s leading energy groups. Mr. Smati joined GDF SUEZ Energy NA in 2001 as its
Executive Vice-President of Strategy and M&A and became President and CEO of GDF SUEZ
Energy Resources NA in 2002. In 2006, he was appointed President and CEO of all energy
activities of GDF SUEZ in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It included 14,000 MW of power
generation, 2 LNG terminals, 6 gas distribution companies, 3 pipelines, a trading and marketing
business and the 3rd largest electricity retail company in the US.
Prior to that, Mr. Smati held various executive positions in a number of energy companies in
the U.S. and the U.K., including President and CEO of BP Global Power, overseeing all power
generation developments worldwide.
Mr. Smati is an incoming Board director of a global engineering and infrastructure listed company
and a board member of the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business. He is a former
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) and
a former member of the National Petroleum Council, an industry advisory body to the U.S.
Secretary of Energy.
Mr. Smati holds a Ph.D. from Brunel University, England, a Master of Business Administration
from Henley Management College, England, and a Bachelor of Engineering from Sheffield
University, England. He lives with his family in Houston, Texas.
Panel 1: “Does Decentralization Make Sense?”
Why does it make sense to move toward increasing reliance on distributed energy
resources? Does it make sense from a cost and cost allocation perspective? From a
technological and infrastructure perspective? What are the technical implications for the
distribution grid of increasing reliance on distributed energy resources? What is driving
decentralization? Is it policy? Is it technological advances?
Dr. Ross Baldick
Moderator
Dan Seif
Panelist
The Butler Firm, PLLC
Amy Stein
Panelist
The University of Florida
Paul Wattles
Panelist
Electric Reliability Council of Texas
Elizabeth Wilson
Panelist
The University of Minnesota
Panel 2: “The Electricity Business Models of the Future”
What are the economic and business opportunities associated with decentralization?
What are the business models that are promoting development of rooftop solar and
other distributed generation, or demand response? What policies and market constructs
are leading to the emergence of such models? What companies are pursuing these
innovative approaches?
Dr. Varun Rai
Moderator
Inês Azevedo
Panelist
Carnegie Mellon University
Sanya Carley
Panelist
Indiana University
Dan Halperin
Panelist
Pacific Gas and Electric
Michael Wara
Panelist
Stanford University
Panel 3: “Who Designs the Grid of the Future?”
Where, if anywhere, does planning occur in an increasingly distributed system? Should
it occur at the Regional Transmission Organizations level? The state level? Should it
happen organically from the ground up? Which parts of the distributed infrastructures
are amenable to bottom-up emergence, and which parts need coordination and planning
from above? What legal and policy institutions do we need to move efficiently toward the
grid of the future?
Dr. David Spence
Moderator
Rao Konidena
Panelist
MISO Energy
Hari Osofsky
Panelist
University of Minnesota
Jeremy Lin
Panelist
PJM Interconnection
Frank Wolak
Panelist
Stanford University
Panel 4: “Evolution of the Grid in Latin America”
How are renewables and distributed energy resources changing the electric systems
of Latin America? We will hear from experts about the opportunities in Mexico and
elsewhere in Latin America.
David Adelman
Moderator
Erika Benson
Panelist
Benson International Group, LLC
Alejandro Ibarra-Yúnez
Panelist
Tecnológico de Monterrey
José María Lujambio
Panelist
Cacheaux, Cavazos & Newton, L.L.P
Peter Nance
Panelist
ICF Consulting
Participant List
David Adelman
Parviz Adib
Kenneth W. Anderson
Tom Anson
Inês Azevedo
Ross Baldick
Fred Beach
Erika Benson
Chad Blevins
Seth Blumsack
William Boyd
Ashley Brown
R. Scott Brown
James Bushnell
John Butler
Michael Caramanis
Sanya Carley
Ann Carlson
Andres Carvallo
Antonio J. Conejo
Lincoln Davies
John Dumas
Roger Duncan
Jim Dyer
Thomas F. Edgar
Joel Eisen
Frank Felder
Marilyn Fox
Talat Genc
Michael Gregerson
Gürcan Gülen
Dan Halperin
Emily Hammond
Ian Hamos
Charlie Hemmeline
Monty Humble
Sharon Jacobs
Liz Jones
Lynne Keisling
Carey W. King
Robert (Bob) King
Alexandra Klass
Becky Klein
Rao Konidena
Carl Lenox
Jeremy Lin
Stephen Littlechild
Gus Lott
Melissa Lott
David Maggio
Laura Manz
Frank McCamant
Colin Meehan
Robert Michaels
Rob Minter
Felix Mormann
Peter Muhoro
Bill Muston
Peter Nance
Sarma Nuthalapati
Philip O’Connor
Sheila Olmstead
Shmuel Oren
Hari Osofsky
Francis O’Sullivan
Uma Outka
Dustin Owens
Dalia Patiño-Echeverri
Brett A. Perlman
Jane S. Peters
Jorge Piñon
Jonathan Pinzon
John Pitts
Steve Puller
Varun Rai
Joshua Rhodes
Mark Rose
Jim Rossi
Dan Seif
Zin Smati
Raiford Smith
Paul Smolen
David Spence
Amy Stein
Caleb Stephenson
Ingmar Sterzing
Melinda Taylor
Sheridan Titman
James Tong
Jess Totten
Chen-Hao Tsai
Brian Tulloh
Michael Wara
Paul Wattles
Michael Webber
Elizabeth J. Wilson
Henry Wischmeyer
Frank Wolak
Taylor Woodruff
Jay Zarnikau
Carl Zichella
Participant Biographies
David Adelman
David E. Adelman teaches and writes in the areas of environmental law, intellectual
property law, and climate change policy. Professor Adelman’s research focuses
on the many interfaces between law and science. Professor Adelman clerked for
the Honorable Samuel Conti of the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California. Before entering academia, he was an associate with the law
firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., where he litigated patent disputes
and provided counsel on environmental regulatory matters, and a Senior Attorney
with the Natural Resources Defense Council also in Washington, D.C. Professor
Adelman was an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Arizona Rogers
College of Law from 2001 to 2009.
Parviz Adib
Dr. Parviz Adib is the Founder of Pionergy consulting firm, who is currently working
on the development of value added services to meet retail electricity consumers’
needs and preferences. He has about 35 years of experience with energy markets
including 21 years with the Public Utility Commission of Texas where he, as the
Director of the Market Oversight Division (“MOD Squad”), performed the duties of
the first ERCOT Market Monitor between 2000 and 2006. He has recently assisted
the government of Mexico to open its wholesale competitive electricity market and
implement market monitoring and surveillance functions. Dr. Adib has a Ph.D. in
Economics from The University of Texas at Austin where he taught graduate and
undergraduate courses.
Kenneth W. Anderson
Ken Anderson has served on the Public Utility Commission of Texas since
September 2008. He received his bachelor’s degree in international affairs from
the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a law degree from
Southern Methodist University.
Tom Anson
Tom Anson is a partner at the law firm of Strasburger & Price, LLC. His energy
and utility law practice spans over three decades, including regulatory, contract,
financial, administrative, and litigation matters for the electricity and pipeline
industries. Tom is also very active in, and serves on the Board of Directors of, the
Gulf Coast Power Association, an industry education and networking organization.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University, and a Juris
Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law.
Inês Azevedo
Inês M. Lima Azevedo is Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering
and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She is co-PI and the coDirector for the Climate and Energy Decision Making Center. She has a B.Sc.
in Environmental Engineering (2004) and a MSc in Engineering Policy and
Management of Technology from IST-Portugal, and a PhD in Engineering and
Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University (2009). Dr. Azevedo’s research
interests lie at the intersection of behavioral and decision making, environmental,
technical and economic issues, such as how to address the challenge of climate
change and to move towards a more sustainable energy system. She addresses
complex problems in which traditional engineering plays an important role.
Ross Baldick
Ross Baldick is Professor and Leland Barclay Fellow in the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He has
undergraduate degrees from the University of Sydney, Australia, and graduate
degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. His current research involves
optimization, economic theory, and statistical analysis applied to electric power
systems, particularly in the context of increased renewables and transmission. Dr.
Baldick is a Fellow of the IEEE and the recipient of the 2015 IEEE PES Outstanding
Power Engineering Educator Award.
Fred Beach
Dr. Beach is the Associate Director for Energy & Technology Policy at the Energy
Institute. He is responsible for supervising and conducting research and studies
related to the interplay between the development of Energy Policy, Environmental
Policy, and Technology Policy. Dr. Beach also teaches Energy Technology Policy
and International Energy Policy in the Cockrell School of Engineering and McCombs
Business School. Prior to joining The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Beach
served for twenty-five years in the United States Navy where he was a qualified
Submariner, Naval Aviator, Surface Warfare Officer, and Acquisition Professional.
Since retiring in 2003 he has also served as a consultant on defense-related topics.
Erika Benson
Erika D. Benson assists clients with developing, strategizing and managing
renewable energy transactions, primarily utility-scale solar projects, and providing
policy and regulatory advice to generation and transmission project developers in
emerging and expanding electricity markets. Prior to Erika’s time with the Benson
International Group, she spent several years as a partner and shareholder with
top international law firms in Washington DC and Austin, Texas. She was also with
the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., as a Senior Advisor for the
Americas in the Office of Policy and International Affairs. She took this expertise and
now represents clients interfacing with U.S. and multi-lateral financial institutions
or foreign governments for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or other structures for
energy project development.
Chad Blevins
Chad serves as the lead ERCOT market analyst for the Butler Firm, where
he provides regulatory support to many of the world’s most successful solar
development companies. Chad has experience building financial models for more
than a billion dollars worth of PV projects, is an Air Force trained GIS specialist, is
Co-Founder and CFO of Smart Power Maps, and he is Chairman of the ERCOT
Emerging Technologies Working Group. He has worked at a 35,000 acre coal mine,
the Energy Resources Division of the General Land Office, a vertically-integrated
grid-scale battery storage company, and at the Austin Technology Incubator. Chad
is an Air Force Honors Graduate and Distinguished Graduate, and is a Summa
Cum Laude alumnus of Saint Edward’s University.
Seth Blumsack
Seth Blumsack is Associate Professor of Energy Policy and Economics in the
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at
The Pennsylvania State University and Chair of the Energy Business and Finance
program. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Reed College
in 1998, an M.S. in Economics from Carnegie Mellon in 2003, and a Ph.D. in
Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon in 2006. Prior to returning to
academia, Dr. Blumsack worked for Economic Insight, Inc., in Portland, Oregon,
where he served as a consultant and contributing editor for the Energy Market
Report, a daily newsletter covering wholesale electricity and natural gas markets
in North America.
William Boyd
William Boyd is an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Law
School and a fellow of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute. He
holds a JD from Stanford Law School and a PhD from the Energy & Resources
Group at UC-Berkeley. Prior to joining Colorado Law he practiced energy and
environmental law at Covington & Burling in Washington DC and served as counsel
to the Democratic minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works. At Colorado law, he teaches energy law & regulation, climate
change law & policy, and environmental law. His current research addresses how
conceptions and practices of public utility regulation are changing in the face of
growing decarbonization imperatives.
Ashley Brown
Ashley Brown is the Executive Director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group
(HEPG), a program of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government
at Harvard Kennedy School. HEPG provides a forum for the discussion and
analysis of electricity issues in the U.S. Mr. Brown is of counsel to the law firm
Greenberg Traurig LLP. Mr. Brown has specialized in litigation in federal and state
courts and before administrative bodies. He has taught in public schools and
universities, frequently lectures at universities and conferences world-wide, and
publishes articles on subjects of interest to electricity sectors.
R. Scott Brown
R. Scott Brown is the Vice President of Exelon’s Market Initiatives & Analysis.
Brown leads a group responsible for analysis of key Federal, state, retail and
wholesale energy policy issues, support of significant state and market initiatives
and serves as a resource on energy business efforts and emerging commercial
matters. His group’s mission is to support key initiatives and policies to enable
Government and Regulatory Affairs and other Exelon business unit clients to
successfully deliver value and public policy leadership within the energy industry.
James Bushnell
James Bushnell is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University
of California, Davis, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of
Economic Research. Prior to joining UC Davis, he spent 15 years as the
Research Director of the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley,
and two years as the Cargill Chair in Energy Economics at Iowa State University.
Prof. Bushnell has been actively involved in energy and environmental policy
for over a decade. Since 2002, he has served as a member of the Market
Surveillance Committee (MSC) of the California Independent System Operator
(CAISO). He has also advised the California Air Resources Board in several
capacities, including as a member of the Economic Analysis and Allocation
Committee.
Michael Caramanis
Michael Caramanis (BS, Stanford 1971, MS/PhD Harvard 1972/1976) is Professor
of Systems and Mech. Eng. at Boston University (1982-pres.), chaired the Greek
Reg. Authority for Energy and the International Energy Charter’s Investment
Group (2014-2008), and was active in power market implementations in England
and Italy. His recent application domain focus is Marginal Costing and Dynamic
Pricing on smart Power grids, grid topology control for congestion mitigation, and
power market reform to include distribution connected loads, generation, and
resources. He is co-author of Spot Pricing of Electricity, Kluwer, 1987, and 100+
refereed publications. His disciplinary background is in Mathematical Economics,
Optimization, and Stochastic Dynamic Decision Making.
Sanya Carley
Sanya Carley is an Associate Professor at the School of Public and Environmental
Affairs at Indiana University, where she also serves as a research member of the
Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy and of the Ostrom Workshop.
She conducts research on topics related to energy policy and economics that are
at the forefront of modern energy debates. Her research focuses on the effects,
effectiveness, and unintended consequences of electricity and transportation
policy; the pursuit of sustainability within the U.S. energy sector; energy-based
economic development; and public perceptions of emerging energy technologies
such as electric vehicles. She received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2010.
Ann Carlson
Ann Carlson is the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law, and the
inaugural Faculty Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the
Environment at the UCLA School of Law. She is also on the faculty of the UCLA
Institute of the Environment. Professor Carlson is one of the country’s top scholars
of climate change law and policy. She is co-author (with Daniel Farber) of a leading
casebook, Environmental Law, Cases and Materials. Her forthcoming work (with
William Boyd) examines the role of rate design and federalism in promoting clean
energy innovation. She leads the PUC Energy Collaborative and is co-principal
Investigator of a Sloan-funded study on durability and flexibly in long term energy
policy.
Andres Carvallo
Mr. Andres Carvallo is the founder and CEO of CMG, Board Director at SGIP,
Board Director at UTC’s Smart Networks Council, Board Director at Gridmates,
Board Advisor to Smart Grid Summits, Board Advisor to Energy Thought Summit
and Zpryme, and Advisor to several institutions and companies. Mr. Carvallo
is an award winning engineer, speaker, author, and executive with 28 years of
experience in the Energy, Telecommunications, Computer and Software industries.
Mr. Carvallo is globally recognized by the IEEE as one of the early developers of
the smart grid concept and technology. Mr. Carvallo defined the term Smart Grid
on March 5, 2004. Mr. Carvallo co-authored the bestselling book “The Advanced
Smart Grid”, he has received 34 industry awards since 2005.
Antonio J. Conejo
Antonio J. Conejo is a professor at Ohio State University. He received his B.S from
Univ. P. Comillas, Spain, his M.S. from MIT, and his Ph.D. from the Royal Institute
of Technology, Sweden. He has published over 165 papers in SCI journals and
is the author or coauthor of books published by Springer, John Wiley, McGrawHill and CRC. He has been the principal investigator of many research projects
financed by public agencies and the power industry and has supervised 19 PhD
theses. He is an IEEE Fellow.
Lincoln Davies
Lincoln Davies is the James I. Farr Professor of Law, Presidential Scholar, and
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College
of Law. Professor Davies is co-author of one of the leading energy law casebooks,
Energy Law and Policy. He has written extensively on energy law and policy, and
in particular on renewables, nuclear power, and technology innovation. His articles
have appeared in the University of Illinois Law Review, Connecticut Law Review,
Maryland Law Review, BYU Law Review, and Energy Policy, among others. His
recent articles include Fukushima’s Shadow, U.S. Renewable Energy Policy in
Context, and Feed-in Tariffs in Turmoil (with Kirsten Allen). His scholarship is
available at http://ssrn.com/author=195508.
John Dumas
John Dumas is currently the Vice President of Market Operations for the Lower
Colorado River Authority (LCRA) where he is responsible for QSE operations.
Mr. Dumas has 29 years of experience in the management of electricity grids and
wholesale energy market operations. Prior to LCRA, Mr. Dumas was the Director
of Wholesale Market Operations at ERCOT where he led the transition from the
Zonal market to the Nodal Market. He was responsible for all Day-Ahead, RealTime and Congestion Revenue Rights market activities at ERCOT. Prior to this
position, Mr. Dumas served as the Manager of Operations Planning at ERCOT
where he was responsible for wind integration, advanced network applications,
load and wind forecasting.
Roger Duncan
Roger Duncan is a research fellow at the Energy Institute. He is the former General
Manager of Austin Energy. Prior to that position, Roger served in various manager
roles for Austin Energy and the City of Austin, with management over government
relations, water and air quality, sustainability and various environmental initiatives.
He was twice elected to the Austin City Council. Roger serves on the Board of
Directors of the Alliance to Save Energy, the Board of Trustees of the American
Solar Energy Society, and is President of the Pecan Street Project, an Austin smart
grid initiative.
Jim Dyer
James S. Dyer is the Fondren Centennial Chair in Business at The University of
Texas at Austin. Dr. Dyer teaches courses on decision and risk analysis, decisionmaking with multiple objectives, and management science in the M.B.A. and Ph.D.
programs at The University of Texas at Austin. He also teaches in the Master of
Science program in Commercialization of Technology. More recently, he was cochair of a seminar jointly sponsored by The University of Texas and Schlumberger
on applications of decision and risk analysis in the oil industry.
Thomas F. Edgar
Dr. Edgar holds the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Chair in Engineering at The
University of Texas at Austin and is Director of the UT Energy Institute. He received
his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and Ph.D. from
Princeton University. Dr. Edgar’s current energy research covers renewable energy,
combined heat and power, energy storage, and improved oil recovery (http://
utw10249.utweb.utexas.edu/edgar_group/) with over 500 publications. His group
develops modeling, control, and optimization tools to improve energy efficiency
and reduce carbon footprint. He has received major awards from AIChE and ASEE
and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Joel Eisen
Professor Joel Eisen teaches and writes in the areas of energy law and environmental
law. He is a co-author of the leading law and business school textbook on
energy law, Energy, Economics and the Environment: Cases and Materials, and
numerous books, book chapters, treatises, and law review articles on electric utility
regulation, renewable energy, and the Smart Grid. Professor Eisen’s scholarship
has appeared in law journals at Harvard, UCLA, Duke, Notre Dame, Fordham,
Illinois, Wake Forest, and William and Mary Law Schools, among other venues.
He was awarded the University of Richmond’s Distinguished Educator Award in
2010, and his article “Residential Renewable Energy: By Whom?” was voted one
of the four top environmental articles of 2011.
Frank Felder
Frank Felder, PhD, is an expert on the modeling of electric power systems. He
is the Director of the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy and
member of the faculty at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers
University. His primary research area is the reliability and efficiency of restructured
electric power systems. Frank holds a PhD in Technology, Management, and Policy
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his research focused on
the economics and reliability of restructured electric power systems. He has both
a BA and BS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia College and the School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences, Columbia University. He served as a nuclear
power system engineer and as a submarine officer in the United States Navy.
Marilyn Fox
Marilyn is a professional accountant, specializing in rate regulation, financial
analysis and policy issues. She has served as an expert witness for regulatory
accounting and affiliated transactions issues in local and state proceedings.
Marilyn is a co-founder and the President of Fox, Smolen & Associates, Inc. (FSA),
founded in 2001. FSA sold its electricity brokerage business to NRG SimplySmart
Solution, LLC. She served as a Director for SimplySmart from September 14,
2014 through October 23, 2015 to assist with the transition.
Talat Genc
Talat Genc is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics
of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph in Canada.
Genc completed his Masters in Industrial Engineering and PhD in Economics at
the University of Arizona. He specializes in Industrial Organization, and Energy
and Environmental Economics. His current research interests concern renewable
energy generation and investment, market power and optimal bidding in wholesale
electricity auctions, capacity investments in energy markets, resource allocations
under indivisibilities, and equilibrium characterizations and computations under
uncertainty in large-scale oligopolies. He teaches graduate and undergraduate
Industrial Organization and Economics of Regulation.
Michael Gregerson
Mike Gregerson has over 40 years of management, executive and consulting
experience in the electric utility arena including environmental and regulatory
affairs, customer service and energy policy negotiations. As an energy policy
consultant, Mike has worked to advance clean energy initiatives and electric
transmission with the Great Plains Institute and the Midwestern Governors
Association. As VP of Customer Care for Xcel Energy, he managed customer
service for 3 million electric and gas customers and also led company efforts
to deal with acid rain, hazardous waste disposal, power plant and high voltage
transmission line impact issues. Gregerson holds a BS degree in engineering
and Master of Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota.
Gürcan Gülen
Gürcan Gülen is Senior Energy Economist at Bureau of Economic Geology’s
Center for Energy Economics, UT-Austin, where he investigates energy value
chain economics and commercial frameworks. He worked internationally on the
economics, policy and regulation of resource development and delivery, and
power market design. Most recently, he has been working on U.S. shale resource
assessment; natural gas demand; and UTEI’s Full Cost of Electricity study. He
served in the U.S. Association for Energy Economics in various positions and was
the editor of USAEE Dialogue for several years. He is a USAEE Senior Fellow. He
received a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston College and a B.A. in Economics from
Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Dan Halperin
Dan joined PG&E in May 2013 as Director of Distributed Generation (DG). In this
role, Dan is responsible for PG&E’s DG program offerings, customer experience
initiatives and policy objectives for customers interested in adopting solar and other
renewable technologies. Prior to joining PG&E, Dan spent six years in the solar
industry with leadership roles in project development and finance at HelioPower,
Solyndra and MMA/Fotowatio RV. Dan began his energy career at Entergy in
corporate development and also worked at PG&E in regulatory and finance. He
has an MBA from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Western
Australia.
Emily Hammond
Emily Hammond is a nationally recognized expert in energy law, environmental
law, and administrative law. A former environmental engineer, she brings technical
fluency to cutting-edge issues at the intersection of law, science, and policy. Her
articles have appeared in numerous top-ranked journals, including the Columbia
Law Review, the Duke Law Journal, the Michigan Law Review, and the Vanderbilt
Law Review. She is a co-author of one of the nation’s leading energy law texts,
Energy, Economics and the Environment, and the environmental law text
Environmental Protection: Law and Policy, in addition to numerous book chapters
and shorter works. An elected member of the ALI, she is also chair-elect of the
AALS Administrative Law Section.
Ian Hamos
Ian Hamos is the Chief of Staff for Renewable Power in the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In this role, he helps
manage the Department’s Solar, Wind, Water, and Geothermal Energy Technology
research and development investments to accelerate progress towards a clean
energy economy. Since joining EERE in 2013, he has also worked on legislative
issues and strategic planning. Prior to his time in EERE, Mr. Hamos served in a
variety of other offices across the Department, including the Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
Charlie Hemmeline
Charlie Hemmeline is the Executive Director of the Texas Solar Power Association.
A native Texan, he returned to Austin in 2011 after more than eight years with the
U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC leading innovative programs for
solar and energy efficiency. Serving originally under President George W. Bush
and later President Obama, Charlie led wide-ranging efforts to break down the
barriers to mainstream solar and reduce the soft costs of implementation. He
holds a master’s degree in Public Service & Administration and a B.S. degree in
Mechanical Engineering, both from Texas A&M University.
Monty Humble
Monty Humble is currently a managing member of Brightman Energy LLC, a
developer of renewable energy projects, and is also an adjunct professor at The
University of Texas School of Law, teaching courses on federal energy policy and
energy project development. Previously, he served as senior vice president for
a renewable energy company owned by Boone Pickens, and led the renewable
policy portion of the Pickens Plan, and before that, Mr. Humble was a partner at
Vinson & Elkins for over 20 years where he headed the firm’s public policy group.
Alejandro Ibarra-Yunez is a professor of economics and public policy at the EGADE
Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey. He has been a guest professor at The
University of Texas at Austin during the summers since 2000. During 2011-2012
Ibarra directed a project on bi-national electricity integration and trade between
Mexico and the United Stated. At the Tecnológico he has developed his career for
37 years as a researcher and consultant. He has written 11 books and more than
50 journal articles.
Sharon Jacobs
Sharon Jacobs joined the University of Colorado Law School faculty in 2014 as an
Associate Professor. Professor Jacobs graduated cum laude from Harvard Law
School in 2009. After graduation, she practiced in the energy and environmental
regulatory groups at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C. Most recently,
Professor Jacobs spent two years as a Climenko Fellow at Harvard Law School.
Professor Jacobs’ teaching and research focus on issues at the intersection of
energy, environmental and administrative law. Her most recent article, Consumer
Generation, explores the rise of the energy “prosumer” and the puzzles these
hybrid consumer/producers create for electricity law and policy.
Liz Jones
Liz Jones became the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Oncor in January
2016. Before then, she represented Oncor and its predecessor companies in
policy-making proceedings at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas, the Texas Reliability Entity, and the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission. She was also an attorney at the Public Utility Commission
of Texas and in private practice. She has a B.A. from Rice University and a J.D.
from The University of Texas School of Law.
Lynne Kiesling
Lynne Kiesling is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of
Economics at Northwestern University. At Northwestern she is also a Faculty
Affiliate in the Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, a
Faculty Member in the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), and a
Faculty Affiliate in the Center for the Study of Industrial Organization (CSIO). Her
specialization is industrial organization, regulatory policy and market design in the
electricity industry. Lynne has a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University
and a B.S. in Economics from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Carey W. King
Dr. Carey W. King performs interdisciplinary research related to how energy systems
interact within the economy and environment as well as how our policy and social
systems can make decisions and tradeoffs among these often competing factors.
The past performance of our energy systems is no guarantee of future returns, yet
we must understand the development of past energy systems. Carey’s research
goals center on rigorous interpretations of the past to determine the most probable
future energy pathways.
Robert (Bob) King
Bob King has been involved in the development of clean energy and electric utility
market policy in Texas since staffing the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council in
1975. After years in government including brief assignments with the Governor of
California and Tennessee Valley Authority, he formed Good Company Associates
in 1991, to provide business development support for companies in the electric
power, energy efficiency, demand response, renewable energy, energy storage and
related businesses. He was founder of the Texas Solar Energy Society, the Texas
Renewable Energy Industries Association, and the South-central Partnership for
Energy Efficiency as a Resource, SPEER, for which he is the CEO, and serves as
the 2016 President of the Gulf Coast Power Association.
Alexandra Klass
Alexandra B. Klass is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the
University of Minnesota Law School. She teaches and writes in the areas of
energy law, environmental law, natural resources law, tort law, and property law.
Her recent scholarly work, published in many of the nation’s leading law journals,
addresses regulatory challenges to integrating more renewable energy into the
nation’s electric transmission grid, siting and eminent domain issues surrounding
interstate electric transmission lines and oil and gas pipelines, and applications
of the public trust doctrine to modern environmental law challenges. She was a
Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School in 2015.
Becky Klein
Rebecca Klein is Principal of Klein Energy, LLC, an energy consulting company
based in Austin, Texas. Her clients include international and domestic companies
focused on penetrating or expanding, in the North American power sector whose
needs concern regulatory, commercial, financial and/or government affairs
expertise. Over the last twenty years she has worked in Washington, DC and
in Texas in the energy, water and national security arenas. Ms. Klein retired as
a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve in January 2015. She is a
veteran of Desert Storm where she served in Saudi Arabia. She received her
academic training at Stanford University (B.A., Biology); Georgetown University
(M.A., National Security Studies); and St. Mary’s Law School (J.D.).
Rao Konidena
Rao Konidena works in Policy & Economic Studies at MISO. In this role, he
is responsible for leading policy questions around increased penetrations of
renewables and their impacts on MISO operations and planning frameworks.
Rao has a Masters in EE from UT Arlington, and an MBA from Carlson School
of Management, U of MN. Rao is volunteer Finance Commissioner at City of
Roseville, MN.
Carl Lenox
Carl Lenox is SunPower’s solution architect and product line manager for energy
management, energy storage, and SunPower’s energy data platform, delivering
insights and customer engagement via web and mobile. He has offered fifteen years
of experience in the areas of solar energy, energy management, digital services,
and grid integration in diverse roles including product management; product
development and certification; codes & standards development; performance
modeling; technical policy; and testing and reliability. He holds numerous US
patents with additional applications pending.
Jeremy Lin
Dr. Jeremy Lin has more than sixteen years of experience in power system planning,
operations and markets. He has extensive knowledge about industry restructuring
and electricity market developments in the US. He also has significant experience
in modeling, simulation, analysis of restructured electricity market, transmission
system analysis, power flow analysis, and advanced computer technology
applications to power system. He is currently affiliated with PJM Interconnection.
Dr. Lin received his M.S.E.E. in power and energy systems from University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in electrical power engineering from
Drexel University. He is a senior member of IEEE.
Stephen Littlechild
Stephen Littlechild is an International consultant on privatisation, competition and
regulation, and is an emeritus Professor from the University of Birmingham.
He is a fellow of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.
Littlechild is the Former Director General of Electricity Supply (UK electricity
regulator) 1989-98.
Gus Lott
Dr. Lott is Principal Engineer at YarCom Inc., Austin, TX. He has 35 years
engineering experience, spanning electrical, electronics, cyber-sciences, and
telecommunications disciplines. His energy related design activities include
real-time systems sensing, grid metrology. SCADA and control security, grid
communications, sustainable energy integration, renewable energy noise emission
reduction, and grid integration with the INTERNET-of-Things (IoT). He earned a
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in Applied Mathematics, M.B.A. (accounting),
and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Dr. Lott is a professional engineer (PE) in AL,
AZ, CA, NV, TX, and VA. He is a retired US Navy Commander, having served as a
Naval Cryptologist. He holds CISSP, ISSEP, PMP certifications.
Melissa Lott
Melissa C. Lott has worked for more than 12 years as an energy systems engineer
and consultant in the United States and Europe. She specializes in technology
and policy analysis, focusing on the co-impacts of energy transitions. Ms. Lott has
worked at the International Energy Agency, U.S. Dept. of Energy, White House
Council on Environmental Quality, and as an advisor on Alstom’s International
Science and Technology Committee. She has been a writer for Scientific American’s
Plugged In since 2011. Ms. Lott was featured in IEEE’s Women in Power in 2015
and named a Forbes Magazine 2013 ‘30 under 30 in Energy’. She holds two
masters degrees - in mechanical engineering and public affairs - from UT Austin
and a BS in engineering from UC Davis. She is now pursuing a PhD.
Since 2014, José María Lujambio coordinates the energy practice of the law firm
Cacheaux, Cavazos & Newton, from its Austin office. His work has included
negotiations of PPAs, support for renewables’ projects, and advice in
hydrocarbons midstream and downstream regulation. From 2009 to 2012, he
was the General Legal Counsel of the Mexican Energy Regulatory Commission,
implementing the 2008 reforms on renewable energy and gas. From 2005 to
2009, he worked as attorney at the Legal Counsel’s Office of Mexico’s President.
In 2014, Lujambio got an LL.M., with energy concentration, from UT Austin, and
in 2002 a Law degree from the ITAM. In 2013 he directed the energy agenda
of the think tank CIDAC. He has published several articles on energy and
constitutional law.
Dave Maggio
Dave Maggio received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004 and 2006, respectively. He
has been an employee with the ERCOT ISO since 2007 and is currently manager
of Congestion Revenue Rights. His group is primarily responsible for the operation,
design, and analysis of the Congestion Revenue Rights market and for analyzing
results from various ERCOT Markets to support and coordinate consistency. His
principal focuses at ERCOT have also included Ancillary Service requirements for
the ERCOT region, the integration of intermittent renewable resources, systems
and rules development for the ERCOT Nodal Market, and the analysis of proposed
market design changes.
Laura Manz
Ms. Manz is Principal of L J Manz Consulting and a Senior Fellow with the More
Than Smart distributed energy initiative in California. She is a recognized leader in
the energy industry with executive and field experience in electric and natural gas
utilities. Her executive experience includes interactions with Chief Executives and
Boards of Directors and other stakeholders of member-driven organizations. She
was instrumental in restructuring power grid operations, markets and planning
in the Mid-Atlantic (PJM), California (CAISO), and Texas (ERCOT). She has
consulted internationally on electricity industry restructuring and power markets.
She has over 30 years of experience in executive management, operations, and
strategy in the electric and gas utility industry.
Frank McCamant
Frank McCamant has been building strong and effective relationships in the
energy resource management and smart grid industry for more than 38 years.
Mr. McCamant led several key business development projects for both generation
and transmission, which provided valuable assets for the Lower Colorado
River Authority (LCRA) under a private/public joint ownership framework. Since
launching McCamant Consulting LLC, Mr. McCamant has been working with
utility and private business clients to successfully implement both smart grid and
power development projects, in addition to managing power supply acquisition
and strategic resource planning efforts. Mr. McCamant holds both a B.S. in civil
engineering and an Executive MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Colin Meehan
Colin Meehan is Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs at First Solar, with
responsibility for governmental affairs in Texas and the eastern U.S., promoting
policies that support cost-competitive utility-scale PV. Prior experience includes
serving as Comverge, Inc.’s Director of Regulatory and Market Strategy;
Environmental Defense Fund’s Policy Manager for U.S. Climate and Energy;
Wholesale Settlement Analyst for the Lower Colorado River Authority; as wholesale
power markets analyst for ICF International where he was the lead analyst for the
development of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative IPM model. Mr. Meehan
holds a BA in Math and Economics from the University of Rochester and MS in
Energy and Earth Resources from the University of Texas at Austin.
Robert Michaels
Robert J. Michaels is Professor of Economics at California State University,
Fullerton and an independent consultant. He holds an A.B. from the University
of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an
expert on regulation and competition in electricity. He has advised state regulatory
commissions, electric utilities, competitive power producers, and governments.
He has participated in electricity restructurings in California and other states,
as well as Japan and New Zealand. He has also testified before several state
regulatory commissions and before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
on utility mergers and market power. He has testified before Committees of the
U.S. Congress.
Rob Minter
Rob Minter is a senior executive with over 30 years of extensive government,
regulatory and external affairs experience in the regulated and competitive electric
power, and natural gas and LNG industries in the US, Mexico and Canada. He
is currently Senior Vice President of Government & Regulatory Affairs for ENGIE
North America, which in 2015 had investments of approximately $11 billion and
revenues of $8 billion in power and gas assets in North America. Rob joined ENGIE
NA in 2002 as Vice President of Government & Regulatory Affairs. Since joining
the company, Rob created a strong organization that has successfully confronted
high profile LNG safety and security issues, provided critical support to challenging
but successful business development projects, and now manages regulatory and
electricity market design initiatives with outcomes valued at $336 million.
Felix Mormann
Felix Mormann is Associate Professor at the University of Miami School of Law
and Faculty Fellow at Stanford University’s Steyer–Taylor Center for Energy
Policy and Finance. His interdisciplinary, often comparative scholarship explores
the legal, policy, and financial challenges along the path to an environmentally
and economically sustainable energy future. Mormann worked as a corporate
and energy lawyer for some of Germany’s premiere law firms. As a management
consultant for McKinsey & Company, he advised international clients from the
high-tech sector. Professor Mormann holds J.D. and J.S.D. degrees from the
University of Passau and an LL.M. from UC Berkeley School of Law. He advises
federal policymakers on clean energy and energy efficiency.
Peter Muhoro
Dr. Peter Muhoro is the Director of Energy Research and Strategies at Pedernales
Electric Cooperative (PEC), the largest electric distribution cooperative in the
United States. Peter works to strategize on the implementation of advanced
cutting-edge, cost-saving technologies while keeping rates affordable for the
members. Prior to PEC, Peter served as an Advisor at the Cooperative Research
Network, the technology research arm of the National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association. He previously launched several small businesses focused on bottom
of the pyramid issues and poverty reduction through electricity access. He is a
sought after speaker both on the national and international arena. Peter holds a
Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Michigan.
Bill Muston
Bill is the Manager of R&D at Oncor, a regulated electric utility delivering electric
energy in the competitive market in Texas. The role of emerging technologies
and ways in which they can be brought to fruitful use to improve electric delivery
services are his core work. Energy storage in utility distribution systems, customer
utilization of energy storage, and distributed control systems to integrate all forms
of distributed energy resources into the grid are his focus in 2016. Scope includes
micro grids that provide both grid-connected and islanded operations. Bill graduated
from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an
M.S. in Engineering.
Peter Nance
Mr. Nance is an energy economist with energy sector restructuring experience
in a variety of capacities internationally. With Que Advisors, Mr. Nance focuses
on financial due diligence, markets and asset transactions in Mexico, the U.S.,
and Canada. He served as Executive Director for North America Power Research
for J.P. Morgan, and as President of Teknecon Energy a financial and economic
consultancy. He shared responsibility for LCRA’s energy portfolio managing fixed
price risk for a $200 million portfolio. He is Past-President for the United States
Association for Energy Economics, and is currently a Senior Fellow. He earned a
B.S. from The University of Texas, an M.B.A. from The University of North Carolina,
and an M.A. from The University of Texas.
Sarma Nuthalapati
Dr. Sarma (NDR) Nuthalapati obtained his Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi, India in 1995. He is currently Principal Engineer, Grid Operations
Support at ERCOT. Dr. Sarma is currently involved in the Synchrophasor Project
at ERCOT that was funded of DOE, USA under the Smart Grid Initiatives Grants.
Dr. Sarma is involved in organizing several panel sessions at the IEEE Power
Engineering Society General Meetings. He is active in the IEEE Working Group
for State Estimation and led a Task Force on ‘State Estimation Concepts and
Terminology’. He is currently the Chair of the IEEE Task Force on Real Time
Contingency Analysis. He is also a member of the NERC SAR Drafting Team on
‘Project 2009-02 Real-Time Monitoring and Analysis Capabilities’.
Philip O’Connor
Phil O’Connor is President of PROactive Strategies, a Chicago energy and
insurance regulatory consulting firm, and a leading advocate of competitive market
solutions in regulated industries. For a decade he led development of the Midwest’s
competitive electricity sector. He chaired the Illinois Commerce Commission and
was Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance a member of the Illinois State
Board of Elections. Six Illinois governors appointed him to boards, commissions
and transition teams. 2007-8 Phil served in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
as an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity. A magna cum laude graduate of
Loyola University of Chicago, Phil received his Masters and Doctorate in Political
Science from Northwestern University.
Sheila Olmstead
Sheila Olmstead joined the LBJ School as an Associate Professor of Public Affairs
in 2013. Olmstead is an environmental economist whose current research projects
examine the environmental externalities associated with shale gas development in
the United States, regulatory avoidance under the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act,
the influence of federal fire suppression policy on land development in the American
West, and free-riding in dam placement and water withdrawals in transboundary
river basins. She holds a PhD from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School
of Government (2002), a Masters in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin (1996), and a BA from the
University of Virginia (1992).
Shmuel Oren
Shmuel S. Oren is the Earl J. Isaac Chair Professor in the Science and Analysis
of Decision Making in the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
department at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the Berkeley site
directora of PSERC, a multi-university Power System Engineering Research
Center sponsored by the National Science Foundation and industry members.
He is also a former member of the California ISO Market Surveillance
Committee. His academic research focuses on planning, scheduling and market
design of electric power systems. He has been a consultant to various private
and government organizations in the US and abroad including the PUCT and the
California CPUC. He holds a Ph.D from Stanford and is a fellow of the IEEE and
of INFORMS.
Hari Osofsky
Hari Osofsky is a Professor of Law, Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Lab,
and Director of the Joint Degree Program in Law, Science and Technology at the
University of Minnesota. She also is on the faculty of the Conservation Biology
Graduate Program; an adjunct professor in the Department of Geography,
Environment and Society; and a Fellow with the Institute on the Environment.
She received a B.A. and J.D. from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geography
from University of Oregon. Her over fifty publications on energy and climate
change have received peer awards from legal scholars and geographers. She
has assisted numerous government agencies and non-profit organizations on
these issues and held national and international professional leadership roles.
Francis O’Sullivan
Dr. Francis O’Sullivan is Director of Research for the MIT Energy Initiative. His current
research is focused on unconventional oil and gas resources, and how power systems
are evolving to accommodate large-scale generation from renewable resources,
particular solar power. He has written and spoken widely on these topics and is a lead
author of both the 2011 MIT Future of Natural Gas Study, and the 2015 MIT Future
of Solar Energy study. Dr. O’Sullivan is a member of the U.S. National Academies’
Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, and is a Senior Associate
with the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
Uma Outka
Professor Uma Outka works at the intersection between energy law and
environmental law, with a focus on renewable energy and the transition to a lowcarbon electricity sector. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Kansas
School of Law and an Affiliate Faculty member of the Environmental Studies
Program and the Center for Environmental Policy at KU. Professor Outka previously
served as General Counsel for 1000 Friends of Florida, a non-profit advocacy
organization focused on growth management, environmental conservation and
affordable housing, and worked as a litigation attorney in private practice with a
large northeast law firm, Verrill Dana, LLP in Portland, Maine. She is a summa
cum laude graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, and holds a Masters
in Public Policy and Administration from the Muskie School of Public Service.
Dustin Owens
Dustin Owens is the Director of Industry Relations at Alberta Energy. Currently
Dustin supports implementation of the Government of Alberta’s Climate Leadership
Plan specific to electricity. This includes engaging market participants and the
ISO to develop renewable energy policies required to achieve prescribed sectorbased outcomes: a coal phase-out and a related renewable energy target. Dustin
previously held management positions at the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of
Executive Council where he coordinated natural resource policy across multiple
departments. Dustin holds a bachelor arts from the University of British Columbia,
majoring in political science, and is currently completing an executive management
program at the University of Alberta.
Dalia Patiño-Echeverri
Dalia Patiño-Echeverri is assistant professor at the Nicholas School of the
Environment at Duke University, where she studies the economic and environmental
impacts of power generation technologies, market rules, and policies affecting
capital investment and operating decisions within the electricity industry. She is
also adjunct assistant professor at the Engineering and Public Policy Department
at Carnegie Mellon University and co-principal investigator of the NSF Center for
Climate and Energy Decision Making. She received B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in
Industrial Engineering from University of The Andes, Bogotá, Colombia and a PhD
degree in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.
Brett A. Perlman
Brett A. Perlman is currently President of Vector Advisors, a management consulting
firm that serves telecommunications and energy clients. Prior to his current role, he
was a Commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas. He was appointed
to the Texas PUC in 1999 by then-Governor George W. Bush and served until his
term ended in September 2003. His consulting practice specializes on advising
senior executives on business strategy, business development, marketing, policy
and regulatory issues and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to his consulting
work, Mr. Perlman has been an independent Director of Just Energy Group, a
NYSE and TSX listed gas and electricity retailer, since 2013.
Jane S. Peters
Dr. Jane S. Peters, President and Owner, of Research Into Action, has nearly 35
years of experience in clean energy program evaluation, market research, customer
engagement, evidence-based behavior change, and organizational analysis.
She has conducted research on all types of clean energy programs: residential,
commercial, institutional, industrial, residential, low-income, agricultural, research
and development, demand response, end-use renewables, and distributed
generation. Jane is particularly interested in determining how best to design and
implement programs that spur individuals and organizations to take actions that
will reduce the risks of climate change, such as reducing energy use in homes,
businesses, and transportation choices.
Jorge Piñion
With international experience in business development, joint ventures and
relationship management in emerging and transitional markets, and a network
of senior energy contacts in Latin America; Jorge Piñon is recognized as an
independent analyst of regional energy issues, as well as the geopolitics of oil and
natural gas in Latin America. During his thirty-two year career in the energy sector,
he has conducted research and country risk assessments as a Visiting Energy
Fellow at the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy (2005-2010) and
at Florida International University’s Latin American and Caribbean Center (20102011) prior to joining the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. Mr. Piñon holds a
degree in International Economics and a certificate in Latin American Studies from
the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Jonathan Pinzon
Jonathan Pinzon is an independent consultant. Most recently he was head of the
Energy & Innovation practice at GreenMomentum. During 2008-2013, Jonathan
managed US-Mexico cooperation projects for USAID. Previously he worked for
Red Mexicana de Energía, a group of independent experts advocating energy
reform. He is co-author of several reports on energy, cleantech and innovation,
including Renewable Energy in Mexico’s Northern Border Region and Cleantech
México 2015. Jonathan Pinzon has a MSc in Technology Commercialization from
the CIMAV-University of Texas, Austin program. He did his undergraduate degree
in International Relations at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico and
has a diploma in Energy Law from the Escuela Libre de Derecho.
John R. Pitts
John R. Pitts Jr. is a Principal at Texas Star Alliance. His background combines
policy and political experience with infrastructure origination, development, and
financing. He represents clients before policymakers on a range of issues and
advises clients on business and project development and financing. John has
worked for political campaigns and for officeholders, including former Governor
Rick Perry and Lt Governor David Dewhurst. He spent four years developing large
solar plants across North America as part of the Utility & Power Plant team at
SunPower Corp; this team developed the first and largest PV plants in the world.
During his time at SunPower, the Americas team built and/or contracted over 1GW
of solar plants, representing $4 billion in project capital.
Steve Puller
Steve Puller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Texas
A&M University, and a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic
Research. In addition to his duties at Texas A&M, he has served as a visiting
research associate at the University of California Energy Institute and an advisor
to the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Steve specializes in the field of Industrial
Organization and has recently investigated a variety of topics in energy and
environmental policy. He earned an AB in Economics from University of Chicago
and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.
Varun Rai
Varun Rai is an Assistant Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the
Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He studies how
interactions between the underlying social, behavioral, economic, technological,
and institutional components of the energy system impact the diffusion of clean
energy technologies. He serves on the Editorial Boards of The Electricity Journal
(Elsevier) and Energy Research & Social Science (Elsevier), for which he is also
an Associate Editor. Varun received his Ph.D. and MS in Mechanical Engineering
from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from
the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.
Joshua Rhodes
Joshua D. Rhodes, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in The Webber
Energy Group and the Energy Institute UT-Austin. His current research is in the
area of residential smart grid applications, including system-level applications of
energy efficiency and distributed generation. He is also interested in policy and the
impacts that good policy can have on the efficiency of the local economy, especially
policy that utilizes market forces to increase the efficiency of the residential building
stock. He holds a double bachelors in Mathematics and Economics from Stephen
F. Austin State University, a masters in Computational Mathematics from Texas
A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at
Austin.
Jim Rossi
Jim Rossi is a Professor of Law and Director of the Program in Law & Government at
Vanderbilt University. He teaches energy law and renewable energy. His books
include Energy, Economics and the Environment (4th edition, Foundation Press,
2015, with Eisen, Hammond, Spence, Weaver & Wiseman) and Regulatory
Bargaining and Public Law (Cambridge University Press 2005). His recent articles
focus on the role of public utility doctrines and principles in modern energy markets.
He also has written extensively on shared jurisdictional issues affecting agency
regulation, including articles on federalism and electric power transmission,
cooperative energy federalism, and the regulation of behind-the-meter resources.
Dan Seif
Dan Seif serves as an energy finance, market, and policy expert for the consultancy,
The Butler Firm, in Austin, TX. Previously, Dan was a Principal with the energy thinktank, Rocky Mountain Institute. Dan was the lead author on NREL’s solar finance
2013-2020 roadmap, creator of RMI’s Business Renewables Center for facilitation
of corporate utility-scale renewable power procurement and finance, and project
lead of the solar-and-storage analysis, Economics of Grid Defection. Dan was an
investment associate with US Renewables Group, where he participated in $40MM
in cleantech venture investing, with all companies garnering later financing $165
MM and 2 in the current Global Cleantech 100. Mr. Seif holds a Harvard MPA and
a BS & MS in chemical engineering.
Raiford Smith
Mr. Smith has 25 years of experience in the energy industry, earned a BS in
computer science from the University of Georgia, an MBA from the University
of Virginia, and a JD from the Charlotte School of Law. Mr. Smith is a licensed
attorney and member of the North Carolina Bar Association; holds several patents
on grid optimization and electric grid technologies; and has published several
papers on the future of the smart grid, energy efficiency, asset optimization, and
price forecasting.
Paul Smolen
Paul Smolen has assisted commercial customers and cities with assessment
of their financial options and regulatory requirements related to the restructured
electricity market in Texas. Paul is a co-founder and the Vice President of Fox,
Smolen & Associates, Inc. (FSA) which was founded in 2001. FSA sold its electricity
brokerage business to NRG SimplySmart Solution, LLC. in September of 2014. He
served as a Director for SimplySmart from September through October 2015 and
was hired as a Consultant to NRG to assist with the development of the marketing
program. Smolen managed electricity procurement for members of 30 Chambers
of Commerce and several associations.
David Spence
David Spence is Professor of Law, Politics & Regulation at the University of Texas
at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and School of Law. He earned his Ph.D
in political science from Duke University, and his J.D. from the University of North
Carolina School of Law. Professor Spence’s scholarship and teaching focuses
on government regulation of business, particularly energy and environmental
regulation. He is co-author of the leading energy law textbook, Energy, Economics
and the Environment (Foundation Press, 4th Ed., 2015).
Amy Stein
Professor Stein focuses her scholarship on clean energy law, electric grid
governance, distributed energy resources, reliability, environmental law, and
federalism. Her recent articles explore the regulatory uncertainty associated
with energy storage and the impacts of distributed ownership on grid reliability.
She began her academic career at GW University Law School and Tulane Law
School. Prior to her academic appointments, she practiced as an environmental
and litigation associate for Latham & Watkins LLP in the firm’s Washington, D.C.,
and Silicon Valley offices. She is a member of the District of Columbia, Illinois, and
California state bars. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago (AB) and the
University of Chicago Law School (JD).
Caleb Stephenson
Caleb Stephenson has served as Calpine’s Senior Vice President of Commercial
Analytics since May 2014. In this role, he oversees the company’s analysis
of factors affecting the company’s commodity margin performance, including
market, regulatory, contractual and operational factors. Mr. Stephenson joined
Calpine in October 2008 as Vice President of Commercial Analytics. He came
to Calpine from PA Consulting Group’s Global Energy Practice, where he
advised merchant power industry participants on energy market outlook and risk
management issues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and social studies
from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Business Administration in finance
from Washington University.
Ingmar Sterzing
Ingmar Sterzing is currently serving as Vice President of Power Supply and Energy
Services for Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) in Johnson City, Texas. At PEC,
Ingmar is responsible for planning, directing and executing power supply and energy
management strategies. He manages the Co-op’s power supply activities, contract
agreements and the solicitation and evaluation of future power supply options.
Melinda Taylor
Melinda Taylor is a Senior Lecturer and Executive Director of the Kay Bailey
Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Business at the University of Texas. At the
law school, she teaches courses on environmental law and oversees the Center,
which publishes policy and legal analyses, offers interdisciplinary courses to law
and business students, and sponsors symposia and conferences. Prior to joining
the faculty of the Law School in 2006, Taylor was the Director of the Ecosystem
Restoration Program for the Environmental Defense Fund, a national, nonprofit
conservation organization. Taylor was a partner at the law firm Henry, Lowerre,
Kelly & Taylor from 1991-1993. She served as Deputy General Counsel of the
National Audubon Society from 1988-1991.
Sheridan Titman
Professor Titman is the director of the Energy Management and Innovation Center
at UT. His research interests include both investments and corporate finance,
and he has published and consulted in both of these areas. Having co-authored
a leading advanced corporate finance textbook entitled “Financial Markets and
Corporate Strategy,” he has served on the editorial boards of leading academic
journals. He is a past director of the American Finance Association and a current
director of both the Asia Pacific Finance Association and the Western Finance
Association. Professor Titman holds a B.S. from the University of Colorado and an
M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University.
James Tong
James Tong is vice president of strategy at Clean Power Finance, where he
leads industry-wide efforts to accelerate solar deployment. He has led three
projects awarded a total of $4.5MM from the Department of Energy, and is
currently a principal in a $2.3MM consumer adoption research led by NREL.
James has spoken at the White House Solar Summit and authored a series of
paper on utility reform, grid neutrality and creation of independent distribution
system operators. Previously, he served in various management positions at GE,
where he completed its elite commercial leadership program. James earned a
BA from Yale University and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Jess Totten
Jess Totten is a principal of the Austin, Texas energy consulting firm Stratus
Energy Group. Prior to joining Stratus, he worked for 23 years at the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, in a number of management, legal, and policy positions.
He provides advice to clients concerning electric utility matters, particularly with
regard to rules and procedures of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and
protocols and procedures of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. His areas
of emphasis have included wholesale and retail competition, renewable energy,
and energy efficiency. He led the PUCT efforts to develop a framework for
designating Competitive Renewable Energy Zones and selecting transmission
companies to build the CREZ facilities.
Chen-Hao Tsai
Dr. Chen-Hao Tsai is a Senior Energy Economist at the Center for Energy
Economics, Bureau of Economic Geology at UT Austin. Dr. Tsai received his PhD
in Energy and Mineral Engineering with an option in Energy Management and
Policy from Penn State University. He also earned a BS in Civil Engineering from
National Taiwan University and an MPA from the School of Public and Environmental
Affairs, University of Indiana Bloomington. A former civil and project engineer at the
Lungmen Nuclear Power Project in Taiwan, Dr. Tsai’s research interests include
electricity market deregulation/regulation, nuclear power, and nonfuel minerals.
Brian Tulloh
Brian Tulloh is vice president of Public Policy for Energy Future Holdings (EFH).
EFH subsidiaries include TXU Energy, a competitive retail electricity provider, and
Luminant, the largest electricity generator in the state. Tulloh is responsible for
delivering the company’s public policy and external affairs objectives, working with
policymakers and the broader public to best serve customers and communities
across Texas. Tulloh earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from
Purdue University and is a registered professional engineer. He holds an MBA
from Southern Methodist University.
Michael Wara
Michael W. Wara is an Associate Professor and the Justin M. Roach, Jr. Faculty
Scholar at Stanford Law School where he teaches Environmental Law and Policy,
International Environmental Law, and Energy Law. His current research focuses on
international climate change policy, implementation of emissions pricing systems,
and innovation in regulated industries, and competition policy in electricity. Prior
to joining Stanford, he was an associate at Holland & Knight, LLP. He holds a
J.D. from Stanford Law School, a Ph.D. in Ocean Sciences from the University of
California, Santa Cruz, and a B.A. from Columbia University.
Paul Wattles
Paul Wattles is Senior Analyst, Market Design and Development, at the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the Independent System Operator for 90% of
Texas electric load. The Market Design team has led initiatives to enable demand
response participation in the Real-Time Energy Market, develop and implement
Fast Response Regulation Service, redesign the Ancillary Services markets to
meet the needs of the grid of the future, and develop a market framework for
Distributed Energy Resources. Paul has been with ERCOT since May 2004. He
has over 15 years of electric industry experience with an emphasis on wholesale
markets, advanced metering, demand response, and governmental affairs. He is
a graduate of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Elizabeth J. Wilson
Dr. Elizabeth J. Wilson is a Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy and Law at
the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Her research
examines policies and institutions supporting energy system transitions. She holds a
doctorate in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and was
selected as a Leopold Leadership Fellow in 2011 and an Andrew Carnegie Fellow
in 2015.
Henry Wischmeyer
Henry Wischmeyer is Vice President for Smart Wires Inc. responsible for the
TOLA region. His company is engaged in adding intelligence to the transmission
side with distributed real time power flow control enabling a Dynamic Grid. He
participated in the development of energy storage solutions that scaled from utility
grade for wind farms to Forward Operating Bases (FOB) for the U.S. Army. He has
a passion for the future of the Smart Grid/Dynamic Grid. Henry spent the majority
of his career in the telecom industry in the US, Canada, and Europe. He is a
graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, with a B.S. in Ocean Engineering.
He flew the A6E Intruder deployed on several aircraft carriers over 13 years. He
has 2 children in college and lives in ATX.
Frank Wolak
Frank Wolak is the Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the
Economics Department and the Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable
Development at Stanford University. From April 1998 to April 2011, he was Chair
of the Market Surveillance Committee (MSC) of the California Independent
System Operator. In this capacity, he has testified numerous times at the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and at various Committees of the US
Senate and House of Representatives on issues relating to market monitoring and
market power in electricity markets. Wolak was also a member of the Emissions
Market Advisory Committee (EMAC) for California’s Market for Greenhouse
Gas Emissions allowances from January 2012 to December 2014. He recently
co-authored a National Academies of Sciences study entitled, “Modernizing the
Freight Rail Regulation.”
Taylor Woodruff
Taylor Woodruff is a Senior Project Manager and Market Liaison in the Market
Relations group for Oncor Electric Delivery, a regulated electric transmission
and distribution service provider that serves 10 million customers across Texas.
Taylor currently represents Oncor on various matters in the ERCOT stakeholder
forums and manages initiatives with a market-wide impact, including distributed
generation, advanced metering, and demand response. He began working
with Oncor in 2009 and has had roles in various operational, engineering, and
regulatory groups. Taylor is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, with
a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Jay Zarnikau
As president of Frontier Associates, Jay provides consulting assistance in the
design and evaluation of energy efficiency programs, retail market strategies,
electricity pricing, demand forecasting, and energy policy. Jay is an Adjunct
Professor of Public Policy and Statistics at The University of Texas. He
formerly served as the Director of Electric Utility Regulation at the Public Utility
Commission of Texas. His publications include roughly 40 articles in academic
journals. His research interests center on energy pricing, electricity resource
planning, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the application of modeling
techniques to problems in resource economics. Jay has a Ph.D. degree in
Economics from The University of Texas at Austin.
Carl Zichella
Carl Zichella is the director for western transmission for NRDC. He leads NRDC’s
western U.S. renewable energy transmission siting work and serves on a nationwide
team working on renewable energy development and climate issues. He works to
find renewable energy transmission solutions that accelerate renewable energy
development while respecting wildlife and land conservation efforts. Mr. Zichella
is a director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology, a
member of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s Transmission Expansion
Planning Policy Committee, a member of DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee,
and a member of the Gridwise Architecture Council, a project of the Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory.
Notes:
Notes:
Thank you to our Sponsors
Corporate Sponsor:
Educational Sponsors:

“Distributed Energy Resources and the Grid of the Future”

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